Trinity College (Irish: Coláiste na Tríonóide), known in full as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin,[7] is a research university and the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin in Ireland. The college was founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university,[Note 1] modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but, unlike these, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland,[8] as well as Ireland's oldest university.

Originally established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of the dissolved Augustinian Priory of All Hallows, Trinity College was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudormonarchy in Ireland, and it was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history. Although Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter as early as 1793,[9] certain restrictions on their membership of the college remained until 1873 (professorships, fellowships and scholarships were reserved for Protestants),[10] and the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its adherents, without permission from their bishop, from attending until 1970. Women were first admitted to the college as full members in January 1904.[11]

The first University of Dublin (known as the Medieval University of Dublin and unrelated to the current university) was created by the Pope in 1311,[15] and had a Chancellor, lecturers and students (granted protection by the Crown) over many years, before coming to an end at the Reformation.

Following this, and some debate about a new university at St. Patrick's Cathedral, in 1592 a small group of Dublin citizens obtained a charter by way of letters patent from Queen Elizabeth[Note 1] incorporating Trinity College at the former site of All Hallows monastery, to the south east of the city walls, provided by the Corporation of Dublin.[16] The first Provost of the College was the Archbishop of Dublin, Adam Loftus (after whose former college at Cambridge the institution was named), and he was provided with two initial Fellows, James Hamilton and James Fullerton. Two years after foundation, a few Fellows and students began to work in the new College, which then lay around one small square. The ecclesiastical origins of the College are reflected in its motto, which is directly derived from Christian Scripture, "HANTA AOKIMAZETE TO KAAON KATEXETE", or "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

During the following fifty years the community increased and endowments, including considerable landed estates, were secured, new fellowships were founded, the books which formed the foundation of the great library were acquired, a curriculum was devised and statutes were framed. The founding Letters Patent were amended by succeeding monarchs on a number of occasions, such as by James I (1613) and most notably by Charles I (who established the Board – then the Provost and seven senior Fellows – and reduced the panel of Visitors in size) and supplemented as late as the reign of Queen Victoria (and later still amended by the Oireachtas in 2000).

The eighteenth century was for the most part peaceful in Ireland, and Trinity College shared in this calm, though at the beginning of the period a few Jacobites and at its end some political radicals perturbed the College authorities.[citation needed] During this century Trinity College was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy. Parliament, meeting on the other side of College Green, made generous grants for building. The first building of this period was the Old Library building, begun in 1712, followed by the Printing House and the Dining Hall. During the second half of the century Parliament Square slowly emerged. The great building drive was completed in the early nineteenth century by Botany Bay, the square which derives its name in part from the herb garden it once contained (and which was succeeded by Trinity College's own Botanic Gardens). Following early steps in Catholic Emancipation, Catholics were first allowed to apply for admission in 1793,[17] prior to the equivalent change at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. However, until 1970, soon before the retirement of Archbishop McQuaid, the Irish Catholic bishops implemented a general ban on Catholics entering Trinity College, with few exceptions, because of its largely Anglican ethos.

The nineteenth century was also marked by important developments in the professional schools. The Law School was reorganised after the middle of the century. Medical teaching had been given in the College since 1711, but it was only after the establishment of the school on a firm basis by legislation in 1800, and under the inspiration of one Macartney, that it was in a position to play its full part, with such teachers as Graves and Stokes, in the great age of Dublin medicine. The Engineering School was established in 1842 and was one of the first of its kind in Ireland and Britain.

Women were admitted to Trinity College as full members for the first time in 1904.

In 1907 when the Chief Secretary for Ireland proposed the reconstitution of the University of Dublin. A Dublin University Defence Committee was created and was successful in campaigning against any change to the status quo, while the Catholic bishops' rejection of the idea ensured its failure among the Catholic population. Chief among the concerns of the bishops was the remains of the Catholic University of Ireland, which would become subsumed into a new university, which on account of Trinity College would be part Anglican. Ultimately this episode led to the creation of the National University of Ireland. In the post independence period Trinity College suffered from a cool relationship with the new state. On 3 May 1955 the Provost, Dr A.J.McConnell pointed out in a piece in the Irish Times that certain state funded County Council scholarships excluded Trinity College from the list of approved institutions, this he suggested amounted to religious discrimination.

The School of Commerce was established in 1925, and the School of Social Studies in 1934. Also in 1934, the first female professor was appointed.

1958 saw the first Catholic to reach the Board of Trinity as a Senior Fellow.

In 1962 the School of Commerce and the School of Social Studies amalgamated to form the School of Business and Social Studies. In 1969 the several schools and departments were grouped into Faculties as follows: Arts (Humanities and Letters); Business, Economic and Social Studies; Engineering and Systems Sciences; Health Sciences (since October 1977 all undergraduate teaching in dental science in the Dublin area has been located in Trinity College); Science.

In the late 1960s, there was a proposal for University College, Dublin, of the National University of Ireland to become a constituent college of a newly reconstituted University of Dublin. This plan, suggested by Brian Lenihan and Donogh O'Malley, was dropped after opposition by Trinity College students.

From 1975, the Colleges of Technology that now form the Dublin Institute of Technology had their degrees conferred by the University of Dublin. This arrangement was discontinued in 1998 when the DIT obtained degree-granting powers of its own.

The School of Pharmacy was established in 1977 and around the same time, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was transferred to University College, Dublin. Student numbers increased sharply during the 1980s and 1990s, with total enrolment more than doubling, leading to pressure on resources and subsequent investment programme.

1991 saw Thomas Noel Mitchell become the first Roman Catholic elected Provost of Trinity College.[22]

Trinity College is today in the centre of Dublin. At the beginning of the new century, it embarked on a radical overhaul of academic structures to reallocate funds and reduce administration costs, resulting in, for instance, the mentioned reduction from six to just three faculties. The ten-year strategic plan prioritises four research themes with which Trinity College seeks to compete for funding at the global level.[23] The Hamilton Mathematics Institute is a mathematics Institute in Trinity College, Dublin named in honour of William Rowan Hamilton. It was launched in 2005 and aims to improve the international profile of Irish mathematics, to raise public awareness of mathematics and to support local mathematical research through workshops, conferences and a visitor programme.

Trinity College retains a tranquil collegiate atmosphere despite its location in the centre of a capital city (and despite it being one of the most significant tourist attractions in Dublin). This is in large part due to the compact design of the college, whose main buildings look inwards and are arranged in large quadrangles (called squares), and the existence of only a few public entrances.

The main college grounds are approximately 190,000 m2 (47 acres), including the Trinity College Enterprise Centre nearby, and buildings account for around 200,000 m², ranging from works of older architecture to more modern buildings. The main entrance to the college is on the College Green and its grounds are bounded by Nassau and Pearse street. The college is bisected by College Park which has a cricket and rugby pitch.

The western side of the college is older, featuring the iconic Campanile, as well as many fine buildings, including the Chapel and Examination Hall (designed by Sir William Chambers), Graduates Memorial Building, Museum Building, and the Rubrics, all spread across College's five quandrangles. The Provost's House sits a little way up from the College Front Gate such that the House is actually on Grafton Street, one of the two principal shopping streets in the city, while its garden faces into the College. The Douglas Hyde Gallery, a contemporary art gallery, is located in the College as is the Samuel Beckett Theatre. It hosts national and international performances and is used by the Dublin International Theatre Festival, the Dublin Dance Festival, and The Fringe Festival, among others. During the academic term it is predominantly used as a teaching and performance space for Drama students and staff.

The eastern side of the college is occupied by Science buildings most of which are modern developments, arranged in three rows instead of quadrangles. The college was ranked by Forbes as one of the top 15 in the world.[24]

A panorama taken from Parliament Square. The row of buildings is framed by the Public Theatre on the left and the Chapel on the right. In the middle lies Regent House with its archway leading to the Front Gate.

The Old Library, housing the Book of Kells and other ancient manuscripts.

The Library of Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland. As a result of its historic standing, Trinity College Library Dublin is a legal deposit library (as per Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003) for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and has a similar standing in Irish law. The College is therefore legally entitled to a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland and consequently receives over 100,000 new items every year. The Library contains about five million books, including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music. Three million books are held in the book depository, "Stacks", in Santry, from which requests are retrieved twice daily.

The Long Room

The Library proper is composed of several library buildings in college. The original (Old) Library is Thomas Burgh's masterpiece. A huge building, it originally towered over the university and city after its completion. Even today, surrounded by similarly scaled buildings, it is imposing and dominates the view of the university from Nassau Street. It was founded with the College and first endowed by James Ussher (1625–56), Archbishop of Armagh, who endowed his own valuable library, comprising several thousand printed books and manuscripts, to the College. The Book of Kells is by far the Library's most famous book and is located in the Old Library, along with the Book of Durrow, the Book of Howth and other ancient texts. Also incorporating the Long Room, the Old Library is one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions, and holds thousands of rare, and in many cases very early, volumes. In the 18th century, the college received the Brian Boru harp, one of the three surviving medieval Gaelic harps, and a national symbol of Ireland, which is now housed in the library.

The buildings referred to as the College's BLU (Berkeley Lecky Ussher) Arts library complex consist of the Berkeley Library in Fellow's Square, built in 1956, the Lecky Library, attached to the Arts building, and the James Ussher Library which, opening officially in 2003, overlooks College Park and houses the Glucksman Map Library. The Glucksman Library contains half a million printed maps, the largest collection of cartographic materials in Ireland. This includes the first Ordnance Surveys of Ireland, conducted in the early 19th century.

The Library also includes the William Hamilton Science and Engineering Library and the John Stearne Medical Library, housed at St James's Hospital.

The College, officially incorporated as The Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, has been headed by the Provost, Patrick Prendergast since 2011.

The body corporate of the College consists of the Provost, Fellows and Scholars. The Provost serves a ten-year term and is elected primarily by fellow academic staff. A small number of students have votes. Election to Fellowship and Scholarship is for academic staff and undergraduates respectively. The decision to elect is made by the Board. Fellows were once elected for life on the basis of a competitive examination. They are now elected until reaching retirement age and are drawn from College academics who are recognised as having excelled in their field. Scholars continue to be selected by examination from the Undergraduate body. The Scholarship examination is now set according to the several undergraduate courses. (So there is a scholarship examination in History, or in Mathematics or Engineering, and so forth). The Scholarship examination is taken in the second year of a four-year degree course (though, in special circumstances, such as illness, bereavement, or studying abroad during the second year, permission may be given to sit the examination in the third year). In theory, a student can sit the examination in any subject, not just the one they are studying. They hold their Scholarship until they are of "MA standing" that is, three years after obtaining the BA degree. (So most are Scholars for a term of five years). Fellows are entitled to residence in the College free of charge; most Fellows do not exercise this right in practice, with the legal requirement to provide accommodation to them being fulfilled by providing an office. Scholars are also entitled to residence in the College free of charge, they also receive an allowance, and. if relevant, have the fees paid for courses they are taking within the college. However, due to pressure on College accommodation Scholars are no longer entitled (as they once were) to free rooms, or any rooms at all, if they are not actually students whether undergraduate or post graduate. Fellows and Scholars are also entitled to one free meal a day, usually in the evening ("Commons"). Scholars retain the right to free meals even after graduation, and ceasing to be students, should they choose to exercise it. In general, amendments to the College Statutes (which must be proposed by the Board) require the consent of the Fellows. Under very limited circumstances, where a change requires parliamentary legislation, the consent of the whole Body Corporate may be needed, with Scholars voting alongside Fellows. This last happened when the governance of the College and University was revised and re stated by an Act of the Oireachtas in 2000.

Aside from the Provost, Fellows and Scholars, Trinity College has a Board (dating from 1637), which carries out general governance. Originally the Board consisted of the Provost and Senior Fellows only. There were seven Senior Fellows, defined as those seven fellows that had served longest, fellowship at that time being for life, unless resigned. Over the years a representational element was added, for example by having elected representatives of the Junior Fellows and of those Professors who were not Fellows, with the last revision before Irish Independence being made by Royal Letters Patent in 1911.

The governance of Trinity College was next formally changed in 2000, by the Oireachtas, in legislation proposed by the Board of the college, and approved by the Body Corporate viz The Trinity College, Dublin (Charters and Letters Patent Amendment) Act, 2000. This was introduced separately from the Universities Act 1997. It states that the Board shall comprise:

Five members of the academic staff who are not Fellows, at least three of whom must be of a rank not higher than senior lecturer;

Two members of the academic staff of the rank of professor;

Three members of the non-academic staff;

Four students of the College, at least one of whom shall be a post-graduate student;

One member, not an employee or student of the College, chosen by a Board committee from nominations made by organisations "representative of such business or professional interest as the Board considers appropriate";

The fellows, non-fellow academic staff as well as non-academic staff are elected to serve for a fixed term. The four student members are the President, Education Officer and Welfare Officer of the Students' Union and the president of the Graduate Students' Union (all ex officio) and are elected annually for one-year terms. The vice-provost/chief academic officer, senior lecturer, registrar and bursar are 'annual officers' appointed for one-year (renewable) terms by the Provost.

There is a Council (dating from 1874), which oversees academic matters. All decisions of the Council require the approval of the Board, but if the decision in question does not require a new expenditure, the approval is normally formal, without debate. The Council had a significant number of elected representatives from the start, and was also larger than the Board, which at that time, continued to consist of the Provost and seven Senior Fellows only. The Council is the formal body which makes academic staff appointments, always, in practice on the recommendation of appointments panels, but which have themselves been appointed by the Council. An illustration of the relationship between the Board and the Council, is where a decision is made to create a new professorial chair. As this involves paying a salary, the initial decision to create the chair is made by the Council, but the decision to make provision for the salary is made by the Board, consequently the Board might over rule, or defer a Council decision on grounds of cost.

The University of Dublin was modelled on University of Oxford and University of Cambridge in the form of a collegiate university, Trinity College being named by the Queen as the mater universitas ("mother of the university"). As no other college was ever established, the College is the sole constituent college of the university and so Trinity College and the University of Dublin are for most practical purposes synonymous. However, the actual statutes of the university and the college[25] grant the university separate corporate legal rights to own property and borrow money and employ staff. Moreover, while the Board of the College has the sole power to propose amendments to the statutes of the University and College, amendments to the university statutes require the consent of the Senate of the University. Consequently, in theory, the Senate can overrule the Board, but only in very limited and particular circumstances. However it is also the case that the University cannot act independently of the initiative of the Board of Trinity College. The most common example of when the two bodies must collaborate is when a decision is made to establish a new degree. All matters relating to syllabus, examination and teaching are for the College to determine, but actual clearance for the award of the degree is a matter for the University. In the same way when an individual is awarded an Honorary Degree, the proposal for the award is made by the Board of Trinity College, but this is subject to agreement by a vote of the Senate of Dublin University. All graduates of the University who have at least a master's degree are eligible to be members of the Senate, but in practice only a few hundred are, with a large proportion being current members of the staff of Trinity College.

The College also has an oversight structure, the Chancellor of the University and the judicial Visitor who is appointed by the Irish Government from a list of two names submitted by the Senate of the University of Dublin. The current judicial Visitor is the Hon. Dr. Justice Maureen Harding Clark.

Most undergraduate courses require four years of study. First year students at the undergraduate level are called Junior Freshmen (regardless of sex); second years, Senior Freshmen; third years, Junior Sophisters; and fourth years, Senior Sophisters. The Freshman Years usually have a set or minimally flexible basic curriculum with the Sophister years allowing for a much greater degree of course variation, as well as taking a year abroad. The passing of two sets of examinations is a prerequisite for a degree. Junior and Senior Freshmen sit preliminary annual exams in Trinity Term of each year which must be passed so that they "rise" to the year above. At the end of the Junior Sophister year, undergraduates sit Part I of the Moderatorship exams, subject to attaining an upper-second, allows them to take an Honours degree and sit the Part II (Final) of the Moderatorship exams. Successful candidates receive first-, upper or lower second-, or third-class honours, or simply a "pass" without honours if they perform insufficiently in Part I of the Moderatorship.

Most non-professional courses take a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. As a matter of tradition, bachelor's degree graduates are eligible, after nine terms from matriculation and without additional study, to purchase for a fee an upgrade of their bachelor's degree to a Master of Arts The four-year degree structure makes undergraduate teaching at Dublin closer to the North American model than that of other universities in England and Ireland (Scottish universities, like Dublin, generally also require four years of study for a Bachelor's degree).

Degree titles vary according to the subject of study. The Law School awards the LL.B., the LL.B. (ling. franc.) and the LL.B. (ling. germ.). Other degrees include the BAI (engineering) and BBS (business studies). The BSc degree is not in wide use although it is awarded by the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the School of Pharmacy; most science and computer science students are awarded a BA.

At postgraduate level, Trinity offers a range of taught and research degrees in all faculties. About 31% of students are post-graduate level, with 1,600 students reading for a research degree and an additional 2,200 on taught courses (see Research and Innovation).[6][29]

Trinity College's Strategic Plan sets "the objective of doubling the number of PhDs across all disciplines by 2013 in order to move towards a knowledge society. In order to achieve this, the College has received some of the largest allocations of Irish Government funding which have become competitively available to date."[30]

The academic year is divided into three terms. Michaelmas term lasts from October to December; Hilary term from January to March; and Trinity term from April to June, with each term separated by a vacation. Whilst teaching takes place across all three terms in postgraduate courses, for undergraduate programmes, teaching is condensed within the first two terms since 2009, with each term consisting of a twelve-week period of teaching known as the Teaching Term. These are followed by three revision weeks and a four-week exam period during the Trinity Term.[31]

Internally at least, the weeks in the term are often referred to by the time elapsed since the start of teaching Term: thus the first week is called "1st week" or "week 1" and the last is "Week 12"/"12th week".

The first week of Trinity Term (which marks conclusion of lecturing for that year) is known as Trinity Week; normally preceded by a string of ball, it consists of a week of sporting and academic events. This includes the Trinity Ball and the Trinity Regatta( a premier social event on the Irish rowing calendar held since 1898),[32] the election of Scholars and Fellows and a College banquet.

Admission to undergraduate study for European Union school-leavers is generally handled by the CAO (Central Applications Office), and not by Trinity College. Applicants have to compete for university places solely on the basis of the results of their school leaving exams. Through the CAO, candidates may list several courses at Trinity College and at other third-level institutions in Ireland in order of priority. Places are awarded in mid-August every year by the CAO after matching the number of places available to the academic attainments of the applicants. Qualifications are measured as "points", with specific scales for the Irish Leaving Certificate, and all other European Union school leaving results, such as the UK GCE A-level, the International Baccalaureate along with other national school leaving exams.[33]

For applicants who are not citizens or residents of the European Union, different application procedures apply.;[34] 16% of students are from outside Ireland and 40% of these are from outside the European Union.[citation needed] Disadvantaged, disabled or mature students can also be admitted through a program that is separate from the CAO, the Trinity Access Programme.[35] This aims to facilitate the entry of sectors of society which would otherwise be under-represented. The numbers admitted on this program are significant relative to other universities, up to 15% of the annual undergraduate intake.

Students who enter with exceptional Leaving Certificate or other public examination results are awarded an Entrance Exhibition. This entails a prize in the form of book tokens to the value of €150.00.[36] Exhibitioners who are of limited means are made Sizars, entitled to Commons (evening meal) free of charge.

Announcement of Fellow and Scholars at Trinity College Dublin on Trinity Monday 2013

Undergraduate students of Senior Freshmen standing may elect to sit the Foundation Scholarship examination, which takes place in the Christmas Vacation, on the last week before Hilary term. On Trinity Monday (the first day of Trinity Term), the Board of the College sits and elects to the Scholarship all those who achieve First in the examination. Those from EU member countries are entitled to free rooms and Commons (the College's Formal Hall), an annual stipend and exemption from fees for the duration of their scholarship, which lasts for fifteen terms. Scholars from non-EU member countries have their fees reduced by the current value of EU member fees. Scholars may add the suffix "Sch." to their names, have the note "discip. schol." appended to their name at Commencements and are entitled to wear Bachelor's Robes and a velvet mortarboard.

Competition for Scholarship involves a searching examination and successful candidates must be of exceptional ability. The concept of Scholarship is a valued tradition of the College and many of the College's most distinguished members were elected Scholars (including Samuel Beckett and Ernest Walton). The Scholars' dinner, to which 'Scholars of the decade' (those elected in the current year, and every year multiple of a decade previous to it, e.g., 2013, 2003,..) are invited, forms one of the major events in Trinity's calendar. A Scholarship at Trinity College is a prestigious undergraduate award; a principal aim of the College is the pursuit of excellence and one of the most tangible demonstrations of this is the institution of Scholarship.

Under the Foundation Charter (of 1592), Scholars were part of the body corporate (three Scholars were named in the charter "in the name of many"). Until 1609 there were about 51 Scholars at any one time. A figure of seventy was permanently fixed in the revising Letters Patent of Charles I in 1637. Trinity Monday was appointed as the day when all future elections to Fellowship and Scholarship would be announced (at this time Trinity Monday was always celebrated on the Monday after the feast of the Holy Trinity). Up to this point all undergraduates were Scholars, but soon after 1637 the practice of admitting students other than Scholars commenced.

Until 1856 only the classical subjects were examined. The questions concerned all the classical authors prescribed for the entrance examination and for the undergraduate course up to the middle of the Junior Sophister year. So candidates had no new material to read, 'but they had to submit to a very searching examination on the fairly lengthy list of classical texts which they were supposed by this time to have mastered'. The close link with the undergraduate syllabus is underlined by the refusal until 1856 to admit Scholars to the Library (a request for admission was rejected by the Board in 1842 on the grounds that Scholars should stick to their prescribed books and not indulge in 'those desultory habits' that admission to an extensive library would encourage). During the second half of the nineteenth century the content of the examination gradually came to include other disciplines.

Around the turn of the 20th century, further examinations for "Non-Foundation" Scholarships were introduced. This initially was a formula to permit women to become Scholars, but without entitling them to the same voting rights as men. Non-Foundation Scholarships are now awarded to those who meet the qualifying standards and Foundation Scholarships given to those whose performance was considered particularly exceptional. While the number of Foundation Scholars remains fixed at seventy, there is in theory no limit on the number of Non-Foundation scholars. The only practical difference between the two is that the Foundation Scholars are members of the body corporate of the College and are entitled to certain voting rights.

Trinity College is the most productive internationally recognised research centre in Ireland.[37] The University operates an Innovation Centre which fosters academic innovation and consultancy, provides patenting advice and research information and facilitates the establishment and operation of industrial laboratories and campus companies.

In 1999 the University purchased an Enterprise Centre on Pearse Street, seven minutes' walk from the on-campus Innovation Centre. The site has over 19,000 m² (200,000 ft²) of built space and contains a protected building, the Tower, which houses a Craft Centre. The Trinity Enterprise Centre will house companies drawn from the University research sector in Dublin.

Trinity College has a vibrant student life with 124 societies (in 2011). Student societies operate under the aegis of the Dublin University Central Societies Committee which is composed of the Treasurers of each of the Societies within the College. Society size varies enormously, and it is often hard to determine exact figures for most societies – several claiming to be the largest in the college with thousands of members, while smaller groups may have only 40–50 members.

Another such society is the College Historical Society which shares the GMB, traces it foundation to 1770, meets each Wednesday evening of Term to debate motions in the chamber of the Graduate Memorial Building, has been addressed by many great orators including Winston Churchill and Ted Kennedy, and counts among its former members many of the most prominent men and women in Ireland's history.

Other societies include Vincent de Paul Society (VDP), which organises a large number of charitable activities in the local community; DU Players, one of the most prolific student-drama societies in Europe which hosts more than 50 shows and events a year in the Samuel Beckett Theatre; The DU Film Society (Formerly DU Filmmakers, formerly the DU "Videographic Society", founded in 1987) which organises filmmakers and film-lovers in College through workshops, screenings, production funding, etc.; The DU Radio Society, known as Trinity FM, broadcasts a variety of student made productions on a special events licence on FM frequency 97.3FM for six weeks a year; The Trinity LGBT society, which is the oldest LGBT society in Ireland and celebrated its 25th anniversary in the 2007/2008 year; The Card and Bridge Society also holds weekly poker and bridge tournaments and was the starting point to many notable alum including Andy Black, Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O'Dea ;The Dublin University Comedy Society, known as DU Comedy, hosts comedy events for its members and has hosted gigs in college from comedians such as Andrew Maxwell, David O'Doherty, Neil Delamere and Colin Murphy; The Dance Society, known as dudance, provides classes in Latin and ballroom dancing, as well as running events around other dance styles such as swing dancing.[47] In 2011 the Laurentian Society was revived. This society played a key role as a society for the few Catholic students who studied at Trinity while "the Ban" was still in force.[48]

The Central Athletic Club is made up of five committees that oversee the development of sport in the college: the Executive Committee which is responsible overall for all activities, the Captains' Committee which represents the 49 club captains and awards University Colours (Pinks), the Pavilion Bar Committee which runs the private members' bar, the Pavilion Members' Committee and the Sports Facilities Committee.

The largest sports club in the college is the Boarding Club with over 1000 registered members. The newest club in the University is the American football team, who were accepted into the Irish American Football League (IAFL) in 2008. Initially known as the Trinity Thunderbolts, the club now competes under the name "Trinity College". The most successful Trinity College sports club – based on Intervarsities victories – is Dublin University Fencing Club (DU Fencing Club). A total of thirty-six Intervarsity titles have been won by the club in fifty-nine years of competition. While the modern DU Fencing Club was founded in 1941, its origins can be dated to the 1700s when a 'Gentleman's Club of the Sword' existed, primarily for duelling practice.[57] There are several graduate sport clubs that exist separate to the Central Athletic Club including the Dublin University Museum Players (cricket), the Lady Elizabeth Boat Club (rowing) and the Mary Lyons Memorial Mallets (croquet).[citation needed]

Trinity College has a tradition of student publications, ranging from the serious to the satirical. Most student publications are administered by Trinity Publications, previously called the Dublin University Publications Committee (often known as 'Pubs'), which maintains and administers the Publications office (located in No 6) and all the associated equipment needed to publish newspapers and magazines.

The Students' Union funds a monthly newspaper called The University Times. This paper was launched in 2009 replacing the University Record. The Record, first published in 1997, had previously replaced an older publication called Aontas. The University Times has since become the largest student newspaper in Ireland, winning numerous awards; it was the recipient of the Student Media Award for Best Publication from 2010-2012, was granted the Website of the Year at the Student Achievement Awards 2013, and most recently won two awards at the Student Achievement Awards 2014, winning Best Publication and Best Journalist (Aisling Curtis).

The University Times is edited by the Communications Officer for the Students' Union, but enjoys editorial independence. This is set to change for the Academic Year 2015/2016, as the roles of University Times Editor and Communications Officer will become entirely separate. It has four major sections: News, Features, Opinions and Sport, and also publishes a widely-read magazine, the UTZine, and a recently introduced supplement, with a rotating theme each issue.

Trinity News is also published in Trinity, and is Ireland's oldest student newspaper, having been founded in 1953. As of 2010 it is published on a fortnightly basis, producing twelve issues in total during the academic year. The focus is on students with sections including College News, National News, International News, Features, Science, Sports Features and College Sports. The paper also includes the cultural magazine called TN2. For the last 10 years the paper has been edited by a full-time student editor, who takes a sabbatical year from their studies, supported by a voluntary part-time staff of 30 student section editors and writers. Ireland's only student-run financial newspaper The Bull is also published quarterly. Student magazines currently in publication as of 2012 include the satirical newspaper The Piranha[58] (formerly Piranha! magazine but rebranded in 2009), the generalist T.C.D. Miscellany (founded in 1895; one of Ireland's oldest magazines), the film journal Trinity Film Review (TFR) and the literary Icarus. Other publications include the Student Economic Review and the Trinity College Law Review, produced independently by students of economics and law respectively, the Trinity College Journal of Postgraduate Research, produced by the Graduate Students Union, the Social and Political Review (SPR),[59] now in its 22nd year, the Trinity Student Medical Journal,[60]The Attic, student writing produced by the Dublin University Literary Society and the Afro-Caribbean Journal produced by the Afro-Caribbean Society. Some older titles currently not in publication include In Transit, Central Review, Harlot, Evoke, and Alternate.

The Trinity Ball is an annual event that draws 7,000 attendants.[61] Until 2010, it was held annually on the last teaching day of Trinity term to celebrate the end of lectures and the beginning of Trinity Week. Due to a restructuring of the teaching terms of the College the 2010 Ball was held on the last day of Trinity Week. In 2011, the ball was held on the final day of teaching of Hilary Term, before the commencement of Trinity Week. The Ball is run by Trinity Students' Union and Trinity's Central Societies Committee in conjunction with event promoters MCD Productions, who hold the contract to run the Ball until 2012.[62] The Ball celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.[63]

The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the University and College authorities. The Campaigns Executive, the Administrative Executive and Sabbatical Officers manage the business and affairs of the Union. The Sabbatical Officers are: The President, Communications Officer, Welfare Officer, Education Officer and Entertainments Officer and are elected on an annual basis; all capitated students are entitled to vote. The SU President, Welfare Officer and Education Officer are ex-officio members of the College Board.

The Students' Union Communications Officer is responsible for the publication of The University Times, which is published every three weeks by the Students' Union. The University Times is an independent newspaper[citation needed] and has distanced itself from being known as the voice of the Students' Union[citation needed], as its predecessor publications had been (The University Record, Aontas).

The Graduate Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between postgraduates and the University and College authorities.[64] The GSU president is an ex-officio member of the College Board.

The Latin Grace is said "before and after meat" at Commons, a three-course meal served in the College Dining Hall Monday to Friday. Commons is attended by Scholars and Fellows and Sizars of the College, as well other members of the College community and their guests.

Each year, Trinity Week is celebrated in mid-April on Trinity Monday and on the afternoon of Trinity Wednesday no lectures or demonstrations are held. College races are held each year on Trinity Wednesday.

There is a long-standing rivalry with nearby University College Dublin, which is largely friendly in nature. Every year, Colours events are contested between the sporting clubs of each University.

The more superstitious students of the college (during their undergraduate studies) never walk underneath the Campanile, as the tradition suggests that should the bell ring whilst they pass under it, they will fail their annual examinations.

The Irish writer J.P. Donleavy was a student in Trinity. A number of his books feature characters who attend Trinity, including The Ginger Man and The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B. H.A. Hinkson has written two books about Trinity, Student Life in T.C.D. and the fictional O'Grady of Trinity – A Story of Irish University Life.

In the Channel 4 television series Hollyoaks, Craig Dean attends Trinity College. He left Hollyoaks to study in Ireland in 2007 and now lives there with his boyfriend, John Paul McQueen, after they got their sunset ending in September 2008.

All Names Have Been Changed a novel by Claire Kilroy is set in Trinity College in the 1990s. The story follows a group of creative writing students and their enigmatic professor. A photograph of Trinity is used in the cover art.[71]

In Karen Marie Moning's The Fever Series Trinity College is said to be where the main character, MacKayla Lane's, sister Alina was attending school on scholarship before she was murdered. The college is also where several of the minor characters who inform Ms. Lane about her sister are said to work.

^ abExtracts from Letters Patent ("First or Foundation Charter") of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and establish a College, mother of a (the) University, near the city of Dublin for the better education, training and instruction of scholars and students in our realm...and also that provision should be made...for the relief and support of a provost and some fellows and scholars...it shall be called THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY NEAR DUBLIN FOUNDED BY THE MOST SERENE QUEEN ELIZABETH. And...we erect...that College with a provost, three fellows in the name of many, and three scholars in the name of many, to continue for ever. And further we make...Adam Loftus, D.D., archbishop of Dublin, chancellor of our kingdom of Ireland, the first...provost of the aforesaid College... And we make...Henry Ussher, M.A., Luke Challoner, M.A., Lancellot Moine, B.A., the first...fellows there... And we make...Henry Lee, William Daniell, and Stephen White the first...scholars... And further...we will...that the aforesaid provost, fellows and scholars of Trinity College aforesaid and their successors in matter, fact and name in future are and shall be a body corporate and politic, for ever incorporated...by the name of THE PROVOST, FELLOWS AND SCHOLARS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN, and that in all future times they shall be known...by that name, and shall have perpetual succession...and we really and completely create...them...a body corporate and politic, to endure for ever... And whereas it appears that certain degrees have been of assistance in the arts and faculties, we ordain...that the students in this College of the holy and undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin shall have liberty and power to obtain degrees of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor, at a suitable time, in all arts and faculties. ...and that they shall have liberty to perform among themselves all acts and scholastic exercises for gaining such degrees, as shall seem fit to the provost and the majority of the fellows, (and that they may elect...all persons for better promoting such things, whether Vice-Chancellor, Proctor or Proctors), (for we have approved assignment of the dignity of Chancellor to...William Cecil, Baron Burghley...and...when he shall cease to be chancellor...the provost and the majority of the fellows shall elect a suitable person of this sort as chancellor of the College. And the chancellor, or his vice-chancellor, with the archbishop of Dublin, the Bishop of Meath, the vice treasurer, the treasurer for war, and the chief justice of our chief place within this our kingdom of Ireland, the mayor of the city of Dublin for the time being, or the majority of them who shall be called visitors, shall break off and limit all contentions, actions and controversies (which the provost and the majority of the fellows cannot settle), and that they shall punish all the graver faults not amended by the provost and fellows.)"

^Trinity Hall which houses 1,100 students, of whom the majority are first years.

^Topuniversities.com[dead link] "Interdisciplinarity forms a key element in the College strategy in increasing Trinity's international standing as a research-led university. TCD has developed significant international strength in research in eight major themes which include globalisation; cancer; genetics; neuroscience; immunology and infection; communications and intelligent systems; nano and materials science as well as Irish culture and the creative arts."